Gen 5 NET notes

Notes for Gen 5:1LEB

Heb "book" or "roll." Cf. NIV "written account"; NRSV "list."

Heb "generations." See the note on the phrase "this is the account of" in 2:4.

The Hebrew text has אָדָם (’adam).

Heb "him." The Hebrew text uses the third masculine singular pronominal suffix on the accusative sign. The pronoun agrees grammatically with its antecedent אָדָם (’adam). However, the next verse makes it clear that אָדָם is collective here and refers to "humankind," so it is preferable to translate the pronoun with the English plural.

Notes for Gen 5:2LEB

The Hebrew word used here is אָדָם (’adam).

Notes for Gen 5:3LEB

Heb "and Adam lived 130 years." In the translation the verb is subordinated to the following verb, "and he fathered," and rendered as a temporal clause.

Notes for Gen 5:4LEB

Heb "The days of Adam."

Heb "he fathered."

The word "other" is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

Notes for Gen 5:5LEB

Heb "all the days of Adam which he lived"

The genealogy traces the line from Adam to Noah and forms a bridge between the earlier accounts and the flood story. Its constant theme of the reign of death in the human race is broken once with the account of Enoch, but the genealogy ends with hope for the future through Noah. See further G. F. Hasel, "The Genealogies of Gen. 5 and 11 and their Alleged Babylonian Background," AUSS 16 (1978): 361-74; idem, "Genesis 5 and 11, " Origins 7 (1980): 23-37.

Notes for Gen 5:7LEB

Heb "he fathered."

Here and in vv. 10, 13, 16, 19 the word "other" is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

Notes for Gen 5:22LEB

With the seventh panel there is a digression from the pattern. Instead of simply saying that Enoch lived, the text observes that he "walked with Elohim." The rare expression "walked with" (the Hitpael form of the verb הָלָךְ, halakh, "to walk" collocated with the preposition אֶת, ’et, "with") is used in 1 Sam 25:15LEB to describe how David’s men maintained a cordial and cooperative relationship with Nabal’s men as they worked and lived side by side in the fields. In Gen 5:22LEB the phrase suggests that Enoch and Elohim "got along." This may imply that Enoch lived in close fellowship with Elohim, leading a life of devotion and piety. An early Jewish tradition, preserved in 1 En. 1:9 and alluded to in Jude 14, says that Enoch preached about the coming judgment. See F. S. Parnham, "Walking with Elohim," EvQ 46 (1974): 117-18.

Heb "and Enoch walked with Elohim, after he became the father of Methuselah, [for] 300 years."

The word "other" is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

Notes for Gen 5:24LEB

The Hebrew construction has the negative particle אֵין (’en, "there is not," "there was not") with a pronominal suffix, "he was not." Instead of saying that Enoch died, the text says he no longer was present.

The text simply states that Elohim took Enoch. Similar language is used of Elijah’s departure from this world (see 2 Kgs 2:10LEB). The text implies that Elohim overruled death for this man who walked with him.

Notes for Gen 5:26LEB

The word "other" is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

Notes for Gen 5:29LEB

The name Noah appears to be related to the Hebrew word נוּחַ (nuakh, "to rest"). There are several wordplays on the name "Noah" in the story of the flood.

The Hebrew verb יְנַחֲמֵנוּ (yénakhamenu) is from the root נָחָם (nakham), which means "to comfort" in the Piel verbal stem. The letters ן (nun) and ח (heth) pick up the sounds in the name "Noah," forming a paronomasia on the name. They are not from the same verbal root, and so the connection is only by sound. Lamech’s sentiment reflects the oppression of living under the curse on the ground, but also expresses the hope for relief in some way through the birth of Noah. His words proved to be ironic but prophetic. The relief would come with a new beginning after the flood. See E. G. Kraeling, "The Interpretations of the Name Noah in Genesis 5:29LEB, " JBL 48 (1929): 138-43.

Notes for Gen 5:30LEB

The word "other" is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

Notes for Gen 5:32LEB

Heb "Noah." The pronoun ("he") has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.